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J. STARK. STEM WINDING AND SETTING WATCH.

Patented Aug. 15, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN STARK, OF WALTI-IAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN OR TO ROYAL E. ROBBINS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND THOMAS M. AVERY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, TRUSTEES, FOR THE AMERICAN "WALTHAM AND ELGIN NATIONAL VATCH COMPANIES.

STEM WINDING AND SETTING WATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,502, dated August 15, 1893.

Application filed March 5, 1892. Serial No. l23,8'79. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN STARK, of Valtham, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stem Winding and Setting Watches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View from the rear of a watch containing my improvements, the back plate and time train being removed and the stem-actuated parts shown in winding engagement. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, showing the parts in setting engagement. Fig. 3, is a like view of the movement separate from the case and shows the stem driven parts as then arranged in winding engagement; and Figs. 4, 5 and 6, are, respectively sections upon lines J3-:12, g/-y and z*z of Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

My invention relates to a class of watches in which the manipulation of the winding and hands-setting train is effected solely by means of a stem arbor that has no positive connection with the movement, and has for its object greater ease and eciency in the operation of the train, more especially when the movement is out of the case, to which end my said invention consists in the construction of the winding and hands setting devices substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter specied.

In the carrying of my invention into practice, I journal upon or within the inner face of the front movement plate A, an arbor B, which from its outer end for about one half of its length, is round, and from thence to near its inner end is somewhat smaller and is square in cross section. At said inner end is provided a short pivot or journal b that, in connection with the round, outer, portion h serves tojournal such arbor within its bearings C and D.

.I ournaled loosely upon the inner end of the cylindrical portion b of the arbor B, immediately adjacent to the inner face of the bearing C is a bevel pinion E which meshes with a wheel F that has both bevel and spur teeth, f and f', respectively, is journaled upon the inner face of the movement plate A and is in constant mesh with the winding wheel of the movement.

Upon the squared portion h2 of the arborB, is fitted a cylindrical piece G which interiorly conforms to the shape of such squared portion so that while adapted to slide freely lengthwise ofthe same, circumferentially such piece has no motion independent of said arbor. The central portion of such piece is provided with a circumferential groove g while at one end it has ratchet teeth g which are adapted to engage with similar teeth e that are formed upon the inner end of the pinion E and at its opposite end is provided with crown teeth g2 which are adapted to engage with the teeth of one of the dial wheels H. Said cylindrical piece, which constitutes a clutch for connecting the pinionE orwheel H with the arbor B is held with a yielding pressure in engagement with said wheel by means of a spring I that has one end secured upon the plate A and its opposite end in engagement with the groove g of said clutch, such being the normal position of the parts.

The arbor B is provided with an axial opening b3 which is cylindrical from its inner end to or beyond its longitudinal center, and from thence to its outer end is made square in cross-section, such enlarged part being adapted to receive and contain the correspondingly shaped inner end of an ordinary stem arbor K, such arrangement enabling said arbor B and the clutch G to be rotated by turning the crown upon the end of such stem arbor.

Within the cylindrical portion of the opening b3 of the hollow arbor B is a rod L which is adapted to slide freely therein, and has such length as to cause its ends to project into the enlarged square portion of said opening and beyond the inner end of said arbor.

Pivoted centrally upon the bearing D is a lever M which has one of its ends m in engagement with the fprojecting end of the rod L and its opposite end in engagement with the free end of a spring N that operates to hold said lever end. with a yielding pressure in contact with said rod. Upon the end of said lever adjacent to the point where said spring engages are two cam projections m and m2 which extend upward in diverging lines and are separated by a V-shaped space, with their ends equi-distant from the pivotal bearing of said lever, and are each adapted to engage with a V-shaped cam lug c' upon the lower side of the spring I, as said lever is turned upon its pivot. If now the stem arbor K is moved longitudinally inward, it will press the rod L and the inner end of the lever M in the same direction, and thereby cause the cam projection m2 to engage with the lug ft' so as to press the free end of the spring I upward and cause the clutch G to change its engagement from the wheel I-I to the pinion E effecting a winding engagement as shown in Fig. 1. Then said stem arbor is drawn outward, said rod L and lever M are, by the action of the spring N returned to their normal positions, and the spring I being relieved from constraint moves said clutch into engagement with said wheel I-I, so as to produce setting engagement, as seen in Fig. 2. W'hen lthe movement is removed from its case, the winding and setting mechanism being removed from the constraint of the stem arbor, will automatically resume its normal position-in setting engagement--as shown in Fig. 2, and thereby canse the dial wheels to constantly move parts of the winding and setting train. Such added load would necessarily interfere with the accuracy of the Watch movement, if it did not entirely arrest the motion of the dial Wheels which have only frictional connection with the train, and in order that such difficulty may be avoided and the movement adapted to run equally well in or out of the case, there is left sufficient play between the end -m of the lever M, and the bearing D so that when the rod L is freed from the control of the stem arbor, said lever is, by the action of the spring N turned until its said end impinges upon said bearing, andthe cam projection fm. engages with the cam lug of the spring I and causes the clutch G to be moved into engagement with the pinion E effecting the winding engagement as seen in Fig. 3. The

movement may now be run and timed out of the case, just as readily as when cased. Vh en necessary to set the hands the setting engagement may be produced by inserting a winding square into the end of the arbor B and pressing inward until the cam projection m is released from engagement with the lug c'.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. As animprovement in stem winding and setting watches, in combination with a sliding clutch which is adapted to be engaged with the winding wheel or the dial wheels, a spring arm that holds such clutch with a yielding pressure in engagement with the dial Wheels and is provided with a cam lug, a lever which is actuated by a spring and is pro vided with two cam projections, either of which by the movement of such lever in opposite directions, may be caused to engage with said cam lug and thereby produce winding engagement of said clutch, and a stem arbor which is adapted to be rotated and to be moved longitudinally, and by its longitudinal movements to control the movements of said cam lever, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. As an improvement in stem winding and setting watches, in combination with a sliding clutch which is adapted to be engaged with the winding wheel, or the dial wheels, a spring actuated lever adapted to have its movements controlled by the longitudinal movements of the stem arbor, and operating to move said clutch into winding position when such arbor is at the inner limit of its motion and also when it is wholly freed from the control of said arbor, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

3. As an improvementin stem-winding and setting watches, in combination with a sliding clutch which is adapted to he engaged with the winding wheel, or the dial wheels, an arm engaging said clutch and acting normally to move it into engagement with the dial wheels, a spring actuated lever adapted to engage and move said arm to place said clutch in winding engagement, and a rotatable longitudinally movable stem arbor adapted by its longitudinal movements to control the movements of said lever, the latter operating to cause the clutch to be moved to winding position both when the arbor is at the inner limit of its motion, and when wholly freed from the control of said arbor, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN STARK.

Witnesses:

Giro. W. GREGORY, E. J. BENNETT.

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